Key lime rules

Well, we can all breathe easier. The wise men and women of the Florida legislature concluded their fierce debate and voted recently to designate key lime pie as the Sunshine State's official pie.

As I wrote in this space last month, the legislature had to choose between pecan (the choice from the northern reaches of the state) and key lime (the favorite in the south). Florida now joins Vermont as the only two states in the union to have a state pie. In Vermont, it's apple.

Every struggle needs a hero, and in this case it's State Sen. Larcenia Bullard (D-Miami), who co-sponsored the bill and apparently was a pit-bull advocate on behalf of key lime. For her efforts, the American Pie Council presented Sen. Bullard with the coveted American Pie Heritage Award.